household savings

Here are some tips to help you save money even if you have a clothes-crazy teenager on your hands or five kids to outfit for school next week!

1. Prepare your list.

• Take an inventory of what each child has that will last through at least the first semester or that can be shifted around to siblings.
• Think about what articles of clothing will be needed for the school year ahead including what items and how many of each. Take into consideration how busy your schedule is and how often you can do laundry in a given week. Your children will let you know what they want, but focus on what they need for now.
• Make a LIST for each child.

2. Set a budget.

• If you have more than one child, remember you may not be splitting the budgeted amount equally among them. It will probably require more cash to outfit one child than another.
• Tell your older kids what the budget is so they won’t be surprised when you have to say no or when they have to put something back. This may even get them more involved in making the right decisions.

3. Ask your kids for their wish list, if they have an opinion.

• This might be a great time to share the budget and what you feel they need to fit in the budget.
• We don’t even need to pretend this process will go smoothly every year. Kids’ expectations are always a bit different than reality. The key is to work with them to figure out how to make the two lists mesh within the budget you’ve set.
• If they want items that just don’t fit in the budget, suggest to them that they earn extra money to buy them.

4. Look for sales. (Right, a no-brainer, but there are some tricks!)

• First, pay attention to your state’s “tax holiday” and find out what cities or municipalities are participating. See a complete list here.
• Second, check giftcards.com and Gift Card Bin for discounted gift cards to stores you plan to shop at. You can save money right off the top this way. CardAvenue is an auction site for gift cards. Last year we found a $175 gift card to American Eagle for just $125; that’s 30% off!
• Third, check store websites and sign-up for e-mail clubs to get in-store coupons, online codes and online coupons. Don’t fall prey to every e-mail alert announcing a sale. Instead, wait for a coupon for a discount on your entire purchase!
• Fourth, check your favorite blogs for local and national deals on Back to School items.
• Try on clothes at the store, write down what you like and see if you can find the style and size online with a coupon code for free or discounted shipping. If you do any shopping online, shop through Ebates or Shop At Home to earn cash back on your purchase. These sites also offer several coupon codes that you can use to save even more.

5. Shop outside the box.

• Visit local consignment stores like Children’s Orchard and Once Upon a Child for the basics. Plain colored t-shirts, button ups or pants can be paired with a cute accessory or embellished.
• Consignment stores in general offer the best savings opportunity. Taylor Bond, CEO of Children’s Orchard recently commented:
  

  “At a traditional retail store, customers would expect to pay $50 or more for a Gymboree dress; the same dress would cost around $7 at Children’s Orchard. Similarly, GAPKIDS, Abercrombie, Tommy Hilfiger Kids separates that cost upwards of $70 at most stores would likely be closer to $12-$15 at Children’s Orchard.
  

• Visit a local independent consignment shop that specializes in designer clothing. When your children feel they must have designer labels, this is the place to go. The items are typically in top-notch condition and cost half what they did new.
• Consignment stores are a great place to make extra money, too! Sell last year’s clothes that you can’t use any longer and let your kids use that money toward the things they want that aren’t in the current budget.
  

  “In addition to selling high-end items at low-end prices, Children’s Orchard buys clothes and other items, paying cash for gently-used brand name toys and other products for children – a favorite feature for parents seeking to earn money and live more environmentally conscious lives.” Taylor Bond CEO, Children’s Orchard

• Shopping for used clothes may be easier with younger kids and especially with girls, but you may find that if you buy an item at a consignment store and take it home to your kids, they will like it before they realize it’s not new. Then you can tell them where you purchased it!
• Consider shopping for school clothes at consignment sales that are held twice a year. Learn more about how to shop and sell at a consignment sale here or here and check out a national directory here.

If you are looking for ways to save on back to school supplies make sure to check out all the Back to School Deals and 7 Steps to Save on School Supplies.

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If new school clothes were the only expense of kids heading back to school perhaps this time of year wouldn’t put such a financial strain on parents. Instead, most school districts request that students bring in a long list of school supplies, and the cost of these supplies can add up quickly. Even families who choose to home school likely will need to stock up on a few supplies. The good news is that there are several tips for saving big.

1. Plan ahead. A sure way to spend more than necessary on school supplies is to wait until the last minute. Retailers start back to school supply sales in the middle of July. By the time school starts, many of the best deals will be long gone and the selection will be limited. It’s especially important to start shopping ahead of time if your child has a specific request that you’d like to grant; that Hannah Montanta backpack your daughter wants might be gone if you wait until the last minute to buy it.

2. Keep in mind that back to school savings are not just for school supplies. Adults needing office supplies should stock up now, too. July and August are usually the best time of year to find inexpensive paper for the printer, Kleenex and hand sanitizer.

3. Stock up on enough supplies for the entire school year while prices are rock bottom. If your budget allows, buy enough school and craft supplies to last the entire school year and summer.

4. Focus on the most expensive items on your back to school list. For younger kids, the most expensive item needed might be a backpack while for older kids this item might be a scientific calculator. By focusing on getting the best deals on the most expensive item, you will maximize your savings.

5. Use coupons. Some back to school items like tissues or hand sanitizer often have coupons that can be used in conjunction with a sale to get the best deal. Learn more about how to use coupons and where to find them with our getting started guide.

6. Calculate the final price in order to determine if the item is really a good deal. For example, crayons might be on sale at one store for $0.25 but on sale at a second store for buy one at $1.99, get two free. At first glance the second store may appear to have the better deal, but you would end up paying $1.99 for three boxes of crayons there instead of $0.75 at the first store.

7. Finally, become familiar with the incentive programs available at many retailers. Some stores offer rebates. At stores like Staples, you’ll pay for your purchases at the register, but you’ll get money back by mail when you submit your rebate for certain items. Staples and other stores like Walgreens also offer store coupons. To find these coupons, check your favorite money saving blogs or search for them yourself in the weekly circular or online. A third incentive program retailers like CVS and Target offer is in the form of store credit. You’ll pay for your purchase in full at the register, but these stores often offer money off your next visit in the form of Extra Care Bucks at CVS and gift cards at Target. To maximize your savings, combine as many incentives as possible on one purchase. For example, you might be able to use a store coupon in conjunction with a manufacturer’s coupon, a rebate and/or store credit to cut your final cost significantly. Learn more about how to shop at your local drug store here.

Even using all these savings strategies, there are some families who cannot afford to send their children to school with the necessary supplies. If there is enough room in your budget, please consider picking up a few extras to donate to a school district or school supply distribution program in your area. Giving away a few school supplies is an easy and inexpensive way to put a smile on a child’s face and relieve some of the financial strain on that child’s family.

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A few months ago we decided we desperately needed to clear out the clutter and provide our kids some much needed “creative” space. Both of them love to create things with paper, stickers, glue and various drawing instruments; the problem was that all of the supplies they used were scattered around the house in too many different places and the kids didn’t really know where to put things when they were finished with them.

We had supplies on our desk, in a closet, on the kitchen counter and when they sat down to work on something they might be at the kitchen table, on the living room floor, in the play room, at my desk (very bad place!) or even outside. We needed to create a spot they knew they could always use and give their things a “home” so they could put them away when they were finished.

We spent 3 months going through the house finding all of the things we don’t use (or don’t use very often) and started prepping for a huge garage sale. Along the way we gathered up many things we spent a considerable amount of money on but just didn’t make good use of.

After many weeks and days organizing our garage sale using Katherine’s great tips we opened for business EARLY last Saturday morning.

The sale was a huge success and we have plenty left over for another sale this week. But, that’s not the point of this story.

We sold several things that were taking up unnecessary space in our family/play room to make space for the aforementioned creative space including a large Step 2 train table, several Fisher-Price play houses, a pretend kitchen, a massage chair, a large baker’s rack, several buckets of toys, a full box of books and a cheaply made and unattractive bookshelf.

We made more than enough at our sale to cover the cost of the three things we needed to help organize the kids’ area.

• a kid size craft table
• 2 small chairs
• a bookshelf
• an art easel

I had been searching on Craigslist for the items I wanted but even used, the cost was more than we really wanted to spend. All of these items together seemed to be more expensive than I had expected.

We are VERY lucky to have an IKEA store here in Phoenix, and that was our first stop. We know from past experience that IKEA has durable, stylish furniture for small spaces and the budget conscious.

At IKEA we came across some lucky finds: two small chairs (durable and cute) for $15 each, two small tables (lightweight and colorful) for $7.99 each, an art easel for $14.99 and a bookshelf for $49.99 (this was the ONE thing we knew were buying when we headed to IKEA).

We furnished an entire creative space (half the room) using just $110.00 of the more than $500 we made at the sale. My kids love their new space and it looks nice, too. It’s much more organized, and we purchased items that are multifunctional and will last for some time.

I realize that buying new things to replace old ones is not always considered de-cluttering but for us, the point was to create a more functional, practical space only using what we needed.

Mission accomplished!

Read more on de-cluttering and minimalism here.

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My family prefers to visit thrift stores when we need something “new” or have a project we want to complete. It’s like a whole weekend of garage sales rolled into one store to save time!

The trouble I always seem to have is making the trip more than just a random stop and not being overwhelmed with the decision-making process.

When we decide to visit the thrift stores there is usually a specific reason but once we arrive, the magnitude of the selection seems to overtake any sense of direction we came with. This is especially true when I’m hoping to find miscellaneous items for decorating the house or working on my latest crafty project.

I saw this article recently from Simple Mom: 12 Tips for Thrift Store Shopping and realized that this is not much different from the way I approach consignment sales (except of course the scope of a thrift store is so much larger).

Here are my tips (not twelve of them though)…Just 5

1. Keep an “idea book”:

I use a small notebook that fits in my purse to write down all of the project ideas or household needs (and any necessary measurements) so I have it with me when I arrive at the store. It’s amazing how much I can forget on the 5 minute drive from my house to the store!

2. Go without the kids! (I agree with SimpleMom here – for the most part):

We follow this same rule for consignment shopping…it’s hard to think and look through hundreds of items for the ONE you want when your child(ren) are running around like exhausted, sugar-filled toddlers on a trip to Disney World – I use this metaphor because it happened to me the other night at Goodwill! I do like to take my toddler and preschooler to look for books and small toys so they don’t grow up with some sort of stigma against thrift shopping.

3. Know your store’s sale days:

I was shocked when I learned that thrift store had sales…seems like a double negative (or maybe that’s positive?) to me but YES, they do have sales and really good ones! 50% off tagged items, $1 day, 20% off coupons…check with the clerk at the store you visit for all the details and plan your trips around them.

4. Go with cash:

It’s too easy to overbuy when the items you are purchasing are priced just pennies on the dollar.

5. Consider your purchase as though you were paying full price:

As Simple Mom notes: “Just because it’s a beautiful silk Ann Taylor skirt doesn’t mean you should buy it.”

• Does it fit your needs?
• Is it usable in it’s current form? If not, will it cost much to make it usable?
• Will it last?

Now, if only I could borrow a creative mind to help me visualize my projects…

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The US Department of Energy and The Environmental Protection Agency jointly sponsor the Energy Star program.

The Energy Star program rates new home appliances to let consumers know how energy efficient the appliance is and how much they can expect to spend on energy to run it over the course of a year. Saving energy also helps the environment!

Energy Star rated products (specifically windows, washing machines and dishwashers) will often qualify for rebate programs in each state (offered through local utility companies).

You can find out if your state offers a rebate by clicking here. I was amazed to see that our city as well as our utility provider is offering rebates. This is an opportunity to really get a great deal by combining rebate offers. Be sure to read the details of each offer and get multiple receipts for your purchase. Many of the offers require a specific “tier” rating or “water factor” rating.

Another great tool provided by the Energy Star program is the Energy Star Yardstick – a measure of how efficient your home is compared to similar homes across the country.

To complete the audit you will need 12 months of billing history for each utility you use and the square footage of your home.

• If you don’t have your bills on hand, you can request them from your utility provider by phone or access your account online and view each statement to gather the necessary information.
• You will need the month, usage and total charge (not including taxes/fees)

The Yardstick tool will compare your home’s information to others across the country. This tool offers helpful energy saving DIY tricks and tips based on where you live and the energy sources your family uses. Most of these projects involve very little cost (<$50).

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I am not a gardening expert by any stretch of the imagination nor do I have a good yard for gardening for several reasons including the eleven trees that provide plenty of shade but do not allow enough sunlight through to grow fruits and vegetables. However, finding a house with a yard that has a sunny patch for a garden is part of what is keeping my husband and I so busy these days. I’m hopeful that by next summer we’ll be able to plant a larger garden. In the meantime, each year we enjoy homegrown tomatoes.

Since the only sun in our yard is in the front, we’ve always grown tomatoes in pots on the front porch. I’ve found I don’t have to share as many with the critters as my neighbors who grow theirs in the back. I look forward to planting the tomatoes each summer. Even though I don’t have a green thumb, we enjoy several beautiful, red tomatoes each year. They taste so much better than those purchased from the store, and they work out to be much less expensive as well. Because these tomatoes are as local as produce is ever going to get for our family, they are also a more eco-friendly option that those purchased at the store. I buy the smallest seedlings available. They cost around $1.00 each. I did a little research to find out what types do well in the Kansas City/Midwest area and discovered that “Early Girl” thrive here. Last summer, I purchased some seedlings from some kids who had grown their own using the seeds from an heirloom tomato. Unfortunately last summer was not a good summer for growing tomatoes, but we enjoyed the few we were able to pick. I’d like to try growing tomatoes from a seed in future, but for now we’re keeping it as simple as possible.

I plant the seedling so that about 80% of it is below the soil. I read somewhere about doing this, and my own little experiment one summer proved to me that a seedling planted this way grows as quickly but with a thicker stem when compared with one planted with the whole stem exposed.
They look so tiny in the huge pot at first, but they don’t stay tiny for long!

Here they are one month later. Those tiny seedlings have already sprouted into plants that reach the top of the tomato cages, and there are several flowers already with tomatoes soon to follow. This year I’m attempting to grow some herbs as well. So far only the basil has come up. I’m hopeful the chives and parsley will sprout soon.

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